Category Archives: about writing

My First BookTok!

You’ve got to keep trying.

I was almost today year’s old when I first heard that a corner of the TikTok video platform was blowing up. Turns out it’s been the better part of a year, but hey, sue me. BookTok, far as I can tell, is a mega-hashtag that authors use to talk about books and writing, and influencers go there for reviews and commentary about it.

So, videos about books. My first thought- watching people read? Or maybe that old life-blogging trend where a writer would show you her entire day, including two hours of staring vacantly at a blank screen.

It turns out to be more than that, of course. And I’m hardly saying I know everything, or even that I know what I’m doing.

But I did one. You can see it here. I’m listed as Trekelny and WilltheWay.

There’s a Giveaway Involved

My very first video is on a theme called Book Aesthetic, which is to say, the feel of the whole fershlugginer thing. And I’m offering free audiobook codes to my seminal epic fantasy chronicle Harbingers of Hope, to folks who comment over there. First ten.

I hope you’ll follow me on TikTok. It’s still the land-rush phase over there, but I’m ignoring the advice to post once a day. Hah! I’d be very happy with one video per week for the summer; once school starts, all bets are off.  Might be a good way to get to know me, my world, the writing process.

On the one hand, these are all things I’ve been telling you about, right here with typed out words.

But you’ve got keep trying.

https://www.tiktok.com/@trekelny

 

Harbingers of Hope Now Available

Utterly Colossal Epic Fantasy

Another Independence Day and another milestone in indie publishing. The once-and-future epic tale is now back in its original form!

Harbingers of Hope now available on Amazon

Once, It Was a Single Story

What I thought to call Judgement’s Tale when I began chronicling in 2007 was a whopping big yarn. That much, I knew. But as I reeled out the story of Solemn, Treaman, Pol, Anteris, Gareth and many more I started to worry a little. How many pages could one book hold? I made the decision to split the tale into two still-hefty novels, published the first half of the story using the title Judgement’s Tale, and then began working on the conclusion.

That of course was The Eye of Kog. Without even trying, I found I had split the baby right down the middle, as each book is just about 200k words.

But it was always a single story. I wasn’t even fully comfortable calling the second book a sequel.

And now I don’t have to.

No Plan Survives Contact… with the Publisher

The utterly unsinkable Katharina Gerlach made me an offer I could hardly understand, much less refuse, back in 2012. She has guided my publication efforts since then and I have zero complaints. She excels in cover design and remarked from the beginning that the orange-toned original covers of JT and EoK were not fully satisfactory. I kind of liked them, but then I love any present I get. And I’ll always suspect that this newest project of hers came about at least partly because she just wanted to create a new cover.

See below- pretty snazzy, huh?

Oh, and a super-cool map as well! My original efforts done on Campaign Cartographer 2 software made me happy, but the full-color design doesn’t show up in print very well, so Kat came up with a painstaking hand-drawn copy in B&W. It was fine too, but lacking maybe a bit of that Tolkienesque style. But now:

THAT is a map of the Lands, I can tell you! And it should be in the current copy when it hits paperback.

This was always THE tale, the one I felt I had to tell. Judgement never let me alone until I finished it, and yes I DO know how that sounds but it’s the truth.

Take a look and I hope you enjoy. Audiobook fans, I’m hard at work recording this summer and will certainly let you know once it’s done. Maybe I’ll do one of those progress tracker deals…


Harbingers of Hope

After two millennia of peace the relentless war between Hope and Despair flares again. With the innocent in peril, can raw unproven heroes resist immortal foes?

Treaman lives for the thrill of adventure. Guiding a group of enterprising companions, he’d put his life on the line for any of them. But when the adventurers become lost in a land tainted by the growing curse of Despair, he fears his leader’s mission is destined to end in failure and death.

Solemn Judgement will never see his homeland again. Brought to unfamiliar shores, Solemn burns any chance of return along with his boat and his father’s body, before setting out to seek his purpose. But the determined young orphan has no idea that acquiring his education could unleash the ultimate evil.

As Treaman and Judgement separately trek to seemingly inevitable doom, a prince seeks to rescue an old alliance, a mysterious fighter in black slays monstrous foes with his bare hands, and a broad cast of characters unwittingly play their part. All are hanging onto a slim sliver of Hope for their future. But even their combined might may not be enough to stop the ruthless march of a powerful necromancer and his tide of undeath …

In a world that only dreams of heroes, can they rise up against oppressive forces and prevent the Lands of Hope from descending into foul darkness?

Harbingers of Hope is an epic fantasy novel that will leave you breathless. If you like expansive worldbuilding, fierce magical battles, and monstrous enemies, then you’ll love William L. Hahn’s sweeping tale.

Read Harbingers of Hope to stand up and fight today!